Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses Hamid Karzai's increased willingness to make a deal with the Taliban, the US determination to militarily weaken the Taliban before negotiating and the disastrous Afghan strategy born from a compromise between US political and military goals.
02/10/10 – Brendan O’Neill – The Scott Horton Show
Please pardon the echo. Brendan O’Neill, editor of Spiked, discusses the failed 'Voltaire defense' used on behalf of Islamic protesters in a British free speech case, why the Chilcot Inquiry is nothing more than non-punitive talk therapy for the state, the scapegoating of Islamic extremism for the West’s abandonment of Enlightenment ideals and how controversial speech in Britain is silenced by legislation rather than challenged by public debate.
02/10/10 – Murray Polner – The Scott Horton Show
Murray Polner, co-editor of We Who Dared to Say No to War: American Antiwar Writing from 1812 to Now, discusses the ritualistic paeans to militarism embedded in American sporting events, the curse of conservative and liberal hawks, the fickle and fleeting nature of American antiwar activism and how Randolph Bourne’s refrain 'War is the health of the State' has become a truism.
02/09/10 – Jason Ditz – The Scott Horton Show
Jason Ditz, managing news editor at Antiwar.com, discusses the quickly removed AP article from George Jahn that blatantly exaggerates Iran's nuclear program, Iran's tentative agreement to third-party uranium enrichment for medical applications and the big difference between highly enriched and weapons grade uranium.
02/09/10 – Francis Boyle – The Scott Horton Show
Francis Boyle, Professor at the University of Illinois College of Law, discusses his legal Complaint demanding the prosecution of Bush administration officials for crimes against humanity, the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) jurisdiction over crimes committed by the US in ICC-member countries, the 'Marty' report that catalogs the US practice of 'extraordinary rendition' and how a less-desirable international prosecution is the result of the Obama administration’s failure to uphold the...
02/09/10 – Cole Miller – The Scott Horton Show
Cole Miller, Founding Director of No More Victims, discusses his organization's efforts to provide medical care for Iraqi children injured by the US military, the mainstream media's refusal to cover the effects of war on individuals, the deeply rooted humanitarian instincts of Americans for children in need and how you can help.
02/09/10 – Anand Gopal – The Scott Horton Show
Independent journalist Anand Gopal discusses the miniature Bagram-type prisons popping up on US military outposts in Afghanistan, loopholes that render prisoner treatment rules meaningless, limited US intelligence operations that rely on dubious tips from score-settling Afghans and how US night raids in rural Afghanistan turn ordinary Pashtuns against the occupation.
02/02/10 – Kurt Haskell – The Scott Horton Show
Kurt Haskell, Detroit area attorney and passenger on 'Christmas bomber' Northwest Airlines flight 253, discusses the change in the official narrative that now acknowledges the 'sharply dressed' Indian man who helped bombing suspect Abdulmutallab board the plane in the Netherlands, the official US policy of helping terrorism suspects into the country in order to catch the entire 'terror network,' the possibility that the 'sharply dressed' man was acting on behalf of the US government and...
02/02/10 – Gareth Porter – The Scott Horton Show
Gareth Porter, independent historian and journalist for Inter Press Service, discusses the Obama administration’s inability to negotiate an Afghan peace deal, differing opinions on whether the troop surge will ultimately help or hurt U.S. diplomatic leverage with the Taliban, the possibility a constitutional rewrite will bring back Sharia law and snuff out Afghanistan’s fledgling 'democracy', the high likelihood of renewed civil war even with a U.S.-brokered peace deal and the slightly...
02/02/10 – Muhammad Sahimi – The Scott Horton Show
Muhammad Sahimi, Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Southern California, discusses the newest round of proposed US sanctions on Iran, the odd idea that choking off supplies of refined petroleum will pressure Iran to give up uranium enrichment, how sanctions will effectively impose a gasoline tax on ordinary Iranians and consolidate the power of the Revolutionary Guard, generous concessions made by moderate Iranian presidents that were rebuffed by the...
01/29/10 – Scott Horton – The Scott Horton Show
The Other Scott Horton (no relation), international human rights lawyer, professor and contributing editor at Harper’s magazine, discusses the journalists attempting to rebut his Guantanamo 'suicides' expose, the strong resemblance of Joe Carter’s critiques to those of a Department of Defense public affairs officer, the hassle of dealing with straw man arguments, more evidence that Camp 'No' does indeed exist, the ease of controlling the flow of information within a secure military...
01/29/10 – Glenn Greenwald – The Scott Horton Show
Salon.com blogger Glenn Greenwald discusses the Justice Department’s proposal to keep 50 Guantanamo inmates imprisoned forever without trial, the current 3-tiered justice system that provides the most generous legal forum that still guarantees a conviction, the problem with conferring 'prisoner of war' status on Guantanamo detainees and the unaccountable 'presidential assassinations' authorized by the Bush and Obama administrations.
01/28/10 – David Bromwich – The Scott Horton Show
David Bromwich, professor of literature at Yale University, discusses American ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry's recommendation against a troop surge that Obama ignored, Eikenberry's concern that continued US assistance will indefinitely delay Afghan independence and self sufficiency, Obama's decision to forgo an Iraq Study Group-type reevaluation of policy on Afghanistan, the odd NYT note (end of article) that Robert Gates watched the military-coup movie Seven Days in May, Obama's...
01/27/10 – Kelly B. Vlahos – The Scott Horton Show
Kelley B. Vlahos, contributing editor at The American Conservative magazine, discusses the latest attempt by anti-Hugo Chavez members of Congress to get Venezuela on the 'State Sponsors of Terrorism' list, unlikely allegations of collusion between al Qaeda and the FARC in drug smuggling operations, Israel’s promotion of a Hamas/Hezbollah/S. America link, the terrible New Yorker articles of Jeffrey Goldberg and the big logical leap of inferring government sponsorship of terrorism from the...
01/27/10 – Maj. Todd E. Pierce – The Scott Horton Show
Major Todd E. Pierce, a Judge Advocate General representing Guantanamo inmate Ali al-Bahlul, discusses the appeal of his client’s conviction for — among other things — making al Qaeda propaganda videos, how Congress exceeding its authority by passing the Military Commissions Act (MCA), pertinent First Amendment and court precedent issues, the misuse of the 'define and punish' clause in Article 1, Section 8, of the Constitution, the effective worldwide criminalization of any expression of...
